First Steps
by Super Chocolate Bear
Summary: Nightwing joins the Justice League while Flash deals with some personal demons.
1. Invitation

Disclaimer: Don't own Justice League (Unlimited or otherwise), Nightwing or anything DC related, m'kay?

(Author Note: Okay, a few ground rules first. I, for one, think that the Robin on _Teen Titans _is Dick Grayson, and that the show (if it is in continuity with rest of the DCAU) happens sometime before/during/after _Batman: The Animated Series. _But, so as not to offend those who want it to be Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or someone else, I'll try and keep the _Titans _references to a minimum. Ahem. Now, on with the story...)

_**First Steps**_

_**Chapter One: Invitation**_

The clock tower in the city of Bludhaven struck three, and the man called Dick Grayson resisted the urge to glance over at the massive clock to check.

_Three? It was only two a few minutes ago..._ he thought to himself, a frown steadily creasing his brow. He forced himself to relax, his hunched shoulders drooping slightly, and the wrinkles on his forehead disappearing.

_No wonder Bruce didn't feel like sleeping when he got back home from patrol, _he mused to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes never leaving the dimly lit doorway across the street from the building upon which he was perched. He hated this part of the job more than any other, although taking care of broken bones without Alfred was a close second.

The waiting.

The endless, monotonous waiting. It had become slightly more tolerable as time went on, but when he was Robin, it was downright unbearable. Especially when he would try and start a conversation with the big, bad Bat. He remembered Tim telling him of one instance where he held a conversation with himself for a few minutes before Bruce gave him the patented Bat-glare. A small quirk of a smile emerged on Dick's face at the memory. Ah, the Bat-glare. He was glad that his replacement didn't take the Bat-glare, or Batman himself, any more seriously than he did.

His was broken out of his fond reverie as the three men he had been waiting for emerged from the building opposite. They checked up and down the street and walked off to the right. Dick stood, surprised at how easily he could move after several hours of being completely still.

_Comes with the territory, _he told himself, leaping from one rooftop to the other, quickly getting ahead of the three men slowly making their way home. He quickly turned towards them and leapt off the rooftop, tucking his legs and rolling in mid air, aiming for the first of the blissfully unaware men. He extended his foot in time for it to slam into the leading man's head, sending him into blissful unconsciousness as his head collided with the wall next to him.

Dick landed in front of the remaining two men with ease, and waited for them to make the first move. An old Batman trick, that. Scare the daylights out of them, then wait for them to either attack or run away. Dick hoped for the latter but always expected the former, especially when it came to Blockbuster's men. The two men stood in front of him weren't about to disappoint.

They both rushed at Dick, roaring as they went, obviously hoping to scare him. Of course, to someone who laughed at the Bat-glare, these two weren't particularly intimidating. Dick patiently waited for the right moment, and then silently leapt over the two, grabbing their heads and knocking them into each other as he flipped over them.

Dick landed gracefully behind them, and heard the gentle noise of the two men's' bodies slumping to the floor. He was about to stand up when he heard the familiar noise of a gun being cocked behind him. Dick quickly reached for a Birdarang from his belt, but was quickly interrupted by an even more familiar sound: that of a Batarang. He turned around as fast as his legs would allow, just in time to see the Batarang collide with the hand of the man he had thought knocked unconscious by his first strike.

Not wasting any time, Dick applied a sharp kick to the man's head, silencing his pained screams and replacing them with a low groan. He slowly dragged the two other men so that they lay next their fallen comrade, tying them together, leaving only his symbol as a reminder to them that he was even there. He hoped that would send something of a message to Blockbuster, the local kingpin of crime.

_You're not so invincible anymore._

He stood and spoke to the shadows scattered around the street.

"I could have handled it."

Slowly, the shadows gave birth to Dick's old mentor, the legendary Batman of Gotham City. He looked down at the three unconscious thugs.

"Whatever you say."

Dick gritted his teeth together behind his sealed lips, glaring at his former mentor through masked eyes.

_He's only here for a few seconds, and already I want to tear his head off. _

"Any particular reason you decided to grace me with your presence? Or is this strictly a social call?"

_Why couldn't you have stayed in your own city?_

Dick thought he saw something flash across Batman's face.

_What was that? Guilt? Regret? _

Dick dismissed the thought as Batman began to speak.

"I want you to come to Metropolis with me."

Dick fought the look of confusion creeping across his face, instead opting for youthful defiance.

"Any particular reason?"

Again, an emotion briefly flashed across Batman's face as he hesitated. The show of emotion was strange enough coming from Bruce, but hesitation as well?

"Yes. We want you to join the Justice League."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONSTRUCTIVE feedback appreciated.


	2. Introductions

(Disclaimer: I _still _don't own Justice League, Nightwing or anything DC related. Or do I? But seriously, I don't.)

_**First Steps**_

_**Chapter Two: Introductions**_

Wally stood off to the side of the darkened elevator as it ascended the new, Metropolis based Watchtower. He looked at his feet, the wall, the ceiling, anything that wouldn't involve his looking at the tall Brazilian stood next to him. He had only recently learned from J'onn that she was called Fire, and that just drove him even crazier. She couldn't have a more perfect name as far as he was concerned. It didn't help that she looked almost completely naked when she 'lit up'. He had tried to keep his infatuation to himself, although he probably wasn't doing a good job of it. He stole a glance at Fire, and to his horror, she was looking back at him. He quickly snapped his head back.

_Front and center, Wally. Front and center. Maybe she didn't even notice. What's taking this elevator so long? This tower isn't that big. Maybe the elevator's broken!_

Wally smiled in hope, thinking of the possibilities, and then his eyes widened in shock.

_Oh God, maybe the elevator's broken. How long does it take to fix these things? A few hours? A day? I can't survive a few minutes with her, let alone a day!_

Just as Wally was about to break out in a sweat, the elevator came to a halt, and through the small window in the elevator, Wally saw John's head come into view. If he wasn't about to start hyper ventilating in panic, he probably would have laughed at the image of John's head floating. As it was, the doors seemed to open at a snail's pace, causing Wally to tap his foot subconsciously. Fire looked over at the noise, and Wally quickly put a stop to it. He gave her a nervous smile, and she smiled back, showing her teeth in the most beautiful grin that Wally had ever seen. She started to walk out of the elevator, and waved as she left.

"Bye," she said, laughing slightly as she went.

"Buh," Wally said back, grinning like an idiot the whole time. John stepped on, and the doors closed behind him. The familiar hum of the elevator filled the small room again.

'_Buh'? The best you could manage was 'Buh'? Come on man! You can pick up chicks in your sleep! What's different about this one? You're THE FLASH, for Pete's sake! She should be nervous around you, not the other way around!_

Wally was so involved in his own head, he obviously missed something John had said, because he was giving him a concerned look. Wally shook his head free of his previous thoughts.

"Huh? What?"

John took a deep breath. "I said, are okay?"

"Uh, yeah… why?" Wally questioned, his eyes narrowing. Both he and Shayera had been acting like this recently, and he was getting a bit irritated by the whole 'I'm worried ever since you disappeared after going faster than you've ever gone before' thing.

"You just seemed a bit… spaced out there."

"How'd you mean?"

John smiled slightly. "Never mind."

Something about that smile grated on Wally, but he let it pass, not wishing to start a confrontation that would undoubtedly end in front of all the other members.

They both shared a brief silence in the elevator, watching the lights flash by the window, before Wally broke the silence.

"You have any idea what this meeting's about?"

John shrugged, and shook his head. "No idea."

The doors promptly opened, and the two stepped out and walked through the hallway and into the conference room where the founding seven members would discuss Justice League business. Well, six of them would discuss Justice League business. Wally would just try and stay awake during all the endless reports and analyses that were brought before them. The only member who he actually listened to was Shayera, and that was only because she knew him well enough to know when he wasn't paying attention, and always made him pay for it later.

Painfully.

The others were already sat in their seats except Batman, who was nowhere to be seen, which didn't surprise Wally, considering he was a 'part timer' and all. John took his seat around the table and Wally followed suit, admiring the Flash logo he painted on the back of the chair, and chuckling at the memory of Bats' expression when he had first seen it. It was one of the few times he had shown any emotion towards Wally other than contempt and impatience. Clark usually kicked off the meetings, so Wally was a bit surprised when J'onn stood and spoke first.

"First of all, I'm sorry for announcing this meeting at such short notice, but Batman insisted that we discuss this matter."

_Bats insisted on something? On something League related? _Now Wally was interested. Now _what could be so important to Bats that he would want a big meeting with the seven big wigs? _

As if to answer Wally's question, the elevator door slid open, and Batman stepped out, followed by… Wally wasn't quite sure who he was.

_Geez, how many sidekicks does Bats have? What's this guy's name? Batboy?_

Wally smiled slightly at his own joke, but quickly snapped back to reality as Batman spoke.

"This is Nightwing…" Batman said, gesturing to the young man behind him, "and he has been asked to join the Justice League."

_That's it? We're here to welcome some clone of Bats into the League?_ Wally looked over at his other team mates, and they had similar expressions on their faces, with the exception of Clark and J'onn, J'onn having no readable expression while Clark stood and smiled.

"Welcome to the Justice League, Nightwing. It's good to have you aboard."

Nightwing smiled and nodded. Wally raised an eyebrow, surprised.

_Whoa. He can smile?_

"Good to be here."

_And he can show emotion! Maybe we should just replace Bats with this guy, _Wally mused, slightly distracted by the feeling of familiarity he was getting from the visitor. _Maybe I've met him as Wally West…_

Diana slowly raised her hand.

"I don't mean to be rude, but was there any reason for all of us to be here to welcome-" she looked at the visitor expectantly.

"Nightwing," he said politely.

"-Nightwing into the League? This usually doesn't require more than two or three founding members, and I'm sure we all have pressing business to attend to."

Wally raised his arm.

"Yeah, I was kinda wondering about that. I mean, what's so important about this guy?" he said, forgetting who was stood patiently by the table. He smiled apologetically. "No offence."

"None taken," Nightwing said, his expression unreadable.

_Guess he has some Bat traits after all, _Wally thought.

Clark broke the awkward silence that followed.

"Actually, it was Batman's idea that we hold this meeting."

All eyes fell on Batman. If this had any effect on him, it didn't show. He simply looked at Nightwing.

"Wait in the hall."

Wally was sure he saw Nightwing's jaw grinding, but decided not to say anything, pleased at the fact that even his sidekicks couldn't stand Batman. Wally's thoughts were interrupted by the doors to the hallway hissing shut as Nightwing stepped through them.

Making sure they were securely closed, Wally started to speak, but was interrupted by Clark.

"What's the problem, Bruce?" he asked, the fatigue in his voice suddenly so apparent. Wally wondered what exactly the big blue boy scout had done to tire himself out so much, but pushed it aside, being too interested in the conversation unfolding in front of him.

"I don't want him in the League."

"Why not? He seems pretty capable from what you've told us."

"Yeah, what's the problem?" Wally asked, smirking. "Afraid he'll steal your thunder?" he asked, well aware of what the response would be.

_Wait for it… wait for it… THERE it is…_

The Bat-glare. Patented in Sweden.

Wally decided to return the favour with his own patented Flash-glare, wondering how long Batman could actually hold. If he was honest, Wally had never tested how long the Bat-glare could go on for, usually avoiding it at all costs. But this time, Wally wasn't going to run. He was going to stick it out.

Shayera interrupted the ensuing silence, looking at Batman with a slightly bored expression.

"So why bring him all the way out here just to say 'sorry kid, go home'?"

Batman broke the glare to look at Shayera, and Wally smirked and reclined back in his chair slowly, making a silent reminder to thank Shayera later for helping him in his victory.

"I didn't want to; but J'onn insisted I discuss it with the rest of you."

Wally looked over at the Martian, surprised that he had shifted the blame onto Batman at the start of the meeting. J'onn looked at him.

_Why J'onn, I didn't know you had it in you._

_I'm afraid I couldn't resist, _J'onn telepathically responded, a slight smile on his face.

"I don't understand the problem. Is it because you don't think he's experienced enough?" Diana asked, the impatience in her voice seeping through. Wally wondered what she was in the middle of doing when the meeting was announced. He promptly decided he didn't want to know; too much awkward imagery for a meeting.

"As I recall, that was why you denied Batgirl and Robin entrance into the League," J'onn chimed in.

"Yeah, just who is this guy? Is he another sidekick?" Wally asked, the familiarity Nightwing held in his brain starting to bug him to no end.

"He was," Batman responded, emphasis on the 'was'.

This just confused Wally more.

"So if he isn't a sidekick anymore, why are _you_ deciding whether he gets in or not? Isn't he kinda… out of your hands?"

The room was silent. Clark looked over at Batman.

"He's right, Bruce. I know how you feel, but he's become a hero in his own right, and we can't deny him entry because you're feeling overprotective."

There was a long silence. Wally was starting to get dangerously bored. Wally knew he was, because he always did the same thing when he started to get bored. He would look at Batman's pointy ears and wondered what he would look like without them, and whether he could move fast enough to take them off without Batman noticing. Considering Batman's demeanour at the moment, these were not the best thoughts to be having. Wally decided to call an end to the meeting.

"Could we just put this to a vote and get on with our day?"

Diana nodded. "I second that."

Clark stood. "All right. Those in favour, raise your hand."

Diana's hand shot into the air, beating even Wally, as every hand slowly raised, with the exception of one member. Clark gave a concerned glance in Batman's direction, then looked at Wally.

"Wally, would you mind bringing him in?"

Wally gave him a grin and a thumbs up, and whizzed to the door, impatiently waiting for it to open. Nightwing was stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall next to the door, his head down in deep thought. Or impatience, Wally couldn't tell. He was just struck by how familiar the pose seemed.

_Okay, now I've definitely seen that pose before._

Wally pushed it aside yet again, and put on his best official voice.

"Sorry about the delay. C'mon in."


	3. Routine

Disclaimer: Seriously, this is getting old. The Justice League ain't mine.

_**First Steps**_

_**Chapter 3: Routine**_

The high pitched beeping of his alarm clock shot through Dick's head far faster than any bullet could. He groaned as he rolled over, mashing his hand on the top of the clock until he succeeded in hitting the snooze button. Dick took stock of his surroundings for what seemed like the hundredth time, still slightly disoriented from being in this building in the first place. He eased out of bed and stumbled in a half dead state to his private bathroom. Dick smiled at the thought of having a room in the Justice League Watchtower with his own private bathroom a week after sleeping in his sparse apartment with no heating.

After showering and getting dressed, Dick made his way to the mess hall, trying his utmost not to stare at all the strangely dressed people he saw along the way.

_You're not exactly dressed to blend into a crowd yourself, _Dick reminded himself as he saw others trying not to stare at him. He wasn't sure if it was 'new guy' syndrome or if his costume was really that odd. He came to the mess hall doors, and was about to push them open when they slid aside obligingly. Dick tried to hide the surprise on his face. He had been living at the tower for almost a week, and he still hadn't quite adapted to the level of technology at this place. He still found it hard to actually admit he was _teleported_ into Bludhaven every night for his regular patrol.

"Not feeling intimidated, are you?"

Dick turned his head to see Kara Kent, otherwise known as Supergirl, giving him a wry smile. He hadn't seen her in quite some time, and she had changed quite a bit since then, with longer hair and a new uniform that seemed to match Superman's much more. Dick smiled.

"Compared to dealing with Batman, this is easy."

Kara smiled back as she went to pick up a tray and joined the queue. Dick followed suit. It suddenly became obvious to Dick she had become a bit taller since he last saw her, as she had no trouble looking directly at him as she spoke.

"So... how's Batgirl?" she said, obviously being careful to protect secret identities.

Dick shrugged, taking a sandwich and some orange juice from the shelf in front of him. "She was fine, the last time I saw her."

Kara frowned as she held her tray out to the worker on the other side of the counter. "You two _still_ aren't speaking to each other?"

"What do you mean, 'still'?"

Kara rolled her eyes and took back her tray, silently thanking the worker before diverting her attention to looking for a table. She gestured for Dick to follow as she sat at a table with only one occupant. Dick didn't recognise him, but he was sure he had seen him on T.V fighting alongside the League. He was dressed in gold and dark blue, with a strange visor covering his face with shortish blond hair that flopped slightly over the front of the visor. There was some strange golden device floating around him as well, and Dick tried his best to ignore it as he sat down. Kara obviously knew him, judging from the smile on her face.

"Hey Booster, how's it going?"

The guy called Booster obviously hadn't noticed they were there, because he took a large bite out of his burger before looking up in surprise. He seemed to swallow the morsel whole, which made Dick wince.

"Hey Supergal, have a seat," he said cheerfully. She obliged, and glanced at Dick when he didn't sit down as well.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Booster Gold, this is Nightwing. Nightwing, Booster Gold," she said, gesturing for them to shake hands.

Dick put his tray down on the table, and extended his hand. "Good to meet you."

Booster slowly extended his hand. "Likewise."

Dick ignored the suspicion in his voice and sat down next to Kara. He immediately saw a reaction from Booster, although it was partially hidden by his visor.

_Oh, so it's jealousy…_Dick thought, slightly amused. He tried hard not to smile, but obviously didn't do a very good job as he saw the irritation on Booster's face grow.

"So… Nightbird-"

"Nightwing," Dick corrected.

"-Nightwing, where are you from?"

"Bludhaven."

There was a long silence as Booster simply stared at him.

"It's near Gotham," Dick added.

"I know," Booster said, an indignant tone raising his voice slightly. Attempting to recover, he asked another question with a slightly more calm voice.

"So… how do you… know each other?" he said, trying very hard to sound nonchalant. Dick just smiled, battling his urge to grin inanely at how transparent the poor guy was. It was Kara who answered the question for him.

"Through Batgirl. We've worked together a few times."

Dick looked over at Kara and wondered if she realised about Booster's jealous questions or not. Dick reminded himself that he couldn't tell what the women in his life thought of him either.

_Never could, never will._

Booster seemed to relax slightly, but Dick couldn't tell if it was defeat or victory that made it happen.

"Oh. Okay."

"And Booster – a burger for breakfast?" Kara asked teasingly.

Booster shrugged and grinned. "What can I say? I like a protein heavy meal in the morning."

The golden device spoke, which shocked Dick so much he almost choked on his sandwich. He sipped at his juice in an attempt to wash it down.

"Sir, you must be mistaken. You told me you were having a burger because you had not slept all night, which was a result of your hiding from Wonder Woman after you mistakenly saw her naked."

The juice that was travelling down Dick's throat erupted forth as he struggled valiantly not to laugh in Booster's face. Kara was taking no such lengths to contain her laughter. Booster shot the device a glare.

"Skeets?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I will kill you."

"Yes, sir."

Kara attempted to hold the laughter as she spoke again. "Booster, how did you manage to see Wonder Woman-?"

"It wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know the shower in her room was broken and that she would use _mine_?" he said, his voice raising a defensive octave. "She should have left a note on the door or something!" he continued, becoming silent as he looked over at the doors, suddenly hiding under the table, pulling Skeets under with him. He raised his head slightly to look at Kara and Dick.

"Uh… nice to meet you Nightbird. See you later Supergal. And if _she_ asks…"

Dick looked over his shoulder to see Wonder Woman entering the room. He looked back at Booster and tapped his nose.

"You were never here," Dick said.

Booster smiled and gave him a thumbs up before he left, carefully hiding behind different people and pieces of furniture as he made his way to the exit, Skeets following close behind. Dick looked over at Kara.

"Is he usually like that?"

"What? Screwing up all the time? Yeah… but his heart's in the right place."

Dick thinned his eyes as he looked at her. "You don't…?"

Kara's raised an eyebrow as she smiled. "What? Booster? Oh, he's nice enough, but… why'd you ask?"

Dick shrugged. "Don't know. He's definitely got a soft spot for you, though."

Before she could respond, an enthusiastic voice interrupted their conversation.

"Mind if I join you guys?"

Dick looked around to see the Flash stood with a dangerously large pyramid of burgers. Dick sighed as the memories came flooding back to him, remembering just how much Wally used to eat when he knew him. Kara motioned for him to sit.

"Sure, have a seat."

He sat, and was about to speak when the intercom came online and the voice of the Martian Manhunter echoed forth.

"_Supergirl, Atom Smasher and Vigilante, report to the teleportation chamber immediately."_

And with that, Kara was off to help the save the world, giving a small wave to Dick and Wally as she flew away. In the ensuing silence that followed, Wally quickly finished off three burgers. Dick decided to speak up.

"So, how have you been?"

This seemed to take Wally by surprise, because his eyes widened slightly at the sound of Dick's voice.

"Uh… just got back from a mission at this place called Blackhawk Island, which was a pretty crazy place, what with these robotic sharks and-"

"No, I meant… how have you been since I last saw you..." he looked at the clueless look on Wally's face before adding, "...a few years ago?"

Wally was silent before finally responding. "Huh?"

Dick sighed.

_He never was the brightest crayon in the box._

He looked around the room to check if anyone was looking, and for any cameras, and quickly raised his mask so that Wally could see the face underneath. Dick smoothly put the mask back on and looked at his comrade.

Wally's face contorted in shock. "Holy… Dick?"

Dick ducked his head and looked around the room to see if anyone had heard, then put his finger to his lips.

Wally smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. But hey, good to see you! How've you been?"

Dick smiled, glad that Wally recognised him after he removed his mask. He didn't particularly feel like listing all of their escapades together.

"Pretty good, for the most part. Didn't you recognise me at all? I was beginning to think it was some other guy in the Flash costume at the meeting."

Wally shrugged, speaking through a mouthful of burgers. "Well, you seemed kinda familiar, but last I saw of you in college, you were still Robin. And J'onn said Robin wasn't allowed in the League, so-"

"Wait, wait. You thought I was still Robin? Haven't you seen the new kid?"

"There's a new one?" Wally asked, still munching away on his burgers.

Dick sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had forgotten just how dense Wally could be. "Well, anyway, I've kind of moved on from that. Now I'm Nightwing." He looked at Wally's costume.

"But it looks like you've done some growing of your own. The last time I saw you, you were still Kid Flash. Now look at you."

Wally shrugged slowly.

"Yeah, well... I knew I'd have to take on the mantle someday. But I didn't think it would've been so soon, y'know?"

Dick put his hand on Wally's shoulder.

"Yeah… I know."

Wally stared into his mountain of burgers for a moment before snapping back into his usual, happy self. "So, how're you finding things in the League? Not quite like living in a big T-shaped tower, is it?"

Dick smiled. "Not really."

"You had any assignments yet?"

"Not yet. I think that new recruits must be given a week or so before they're put on assignment."

Wally frowned. "I never heard about that. Tell you what. Next time I'm leading a team, I'll put you on mine. Show you the ropes, eh?"

Dick smiled. "Just like old times."

Wally grinned as he finished off the last of his burgers. "Yeah."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A/N: Thanks for the feedback, and I hope that this resolves the whole 'Wally and Dick being old friends' thang. And yes, I know I said no _Teen Titans _references, but... I couldn't help myself.)


	4. Problems

Disclaimer: Don't own Justice League.

_**First Steps**_

_**Chapter Four: Problems**_

The Javelin jet rocketed into the air from its hidden launching platform beneath the Watchtower building. Wally waited until the jet reached the correct altitude, and then levelled the Javelin out. He enjoyed flying the large jets once he had learned how to fly them properly. Especially since the battle with Luthor/Brainiac/whatever a few months ago. Before the incident, Wally was happy enough to let someone else do the piloting, but ever since then he had insisted on flying the Javelins whenever he could, so as to distract him from otherwise worrying thoughts.

In the old days, when it was just the seven Leaguers, Wally's mind would usually become a blank slate on the way to battle; he just wasn't that concerned. Now, though, he always had one thought on his mind:

_How fast can I go? _

It had always been in the back of his mind ever since he got his powers in that blinding flash of light years ago; it was probably why he screwed up in battle so much when he was younger. But it was never at the forefront of his mind, as he never thought he was anywhere _near _as fast as he was.

Obviously, he was wrong. He was _that _fast. Fast enough to almost become one with the 'Speed Force' he had felt. And it scared him. What scared him more was that someone could get hurt because of his being afraid of his speed. Wally glanced over his shoulder to look at the other occupants of the Javelin. As promised, Wally had got Dick a place on his next mission, much to Batman's chagrin.

_Any opportunity to annoy Bats is a worthwhile one._

The other member of his team was Dr Light, whom he hadn't even spoken to before, and wasn't about to start, as she was a notorious snob. Wally didn't put much effort into getting to know people like that. Who would want to? Dick punctured the silence with a well placed question.

"Where're we headed?"

Wally turned his attention ahead once more, and punched up the details on the screen in front of him.

"Some R&D facility in Keystone City. We're not sure who's causing the trouble, just that the local police can't handle them," Wally said, wondering if any of his rogues gallery were to blame. Probably Captain Cold. That slippery jerk was always sliding out of prison. Wally smiled.

_Heh. I made a funny._

"How long until we get there?"

"About fifteen minutes. Supes is on his way, but he's been held up in Metropolis, so it could take awhile for him to get there," Wally said, turning to face Dick with a grin.

"We'll have finished 'em off before he even gets there."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fifteen minutes later, the Javelin set down in front of the offending building Wally was especially careful not to land on any nearby bystanders or cops.

_That would be pretty embarrassing._

Wally was the first out of the Javelin, heading straight for the police chief in charge.

"What's the situation?" Wally asked, doing his best Superman impression. The chief threw him a sideways glance and smiled slightly, clearly relieved at the presence of their city's 'official' protector.

"It's Shade, and some woman dressed in pink and black. There's what looks like a little boy with them as well."

Dr Light spoke up. "A hostage?"

The chief shook his head. "We're not sure. From eyewitness reports it seems the boy has been going along with them willingly."

Wally did his best to give him a reassuring smile. "We'll do what we can."

He zipped back over to the Javelin, and waited for Dick and Dr Light to catch up.

"Any ideas?" he asked.

Dr Light spoke up first as Dick crossed his arms and put his head down in thought.

"The woman in pink and black sounds like Star Sapphire to me."

Wally nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought too."

He looked over at Dick. "Got anything?"

Dick creased his brow thoughtfully. "I'm wondering who this boy is. I mean, why take _one _boy? If he was important, why haven't they made any ransom demands?"

Wally was about to respond when Dr Light interrupted their discussion. "Excuse me, but I think we can talk about this later once we take care of the two that we _know _are in there."

Dick looked over at her angrily. "I don't think it's a good idea to go in there until we have all the facts straight. What if it's a trap?"

"What if it isn't? For all we know they could kill the boy while we're out here having a nice little chat."

"If you-"

Wally quickly darted between the two.

"Guys, guys! Really not helping here!" Wally waited until they had both calmed down before speaking to Dick. "She's right buddy, we've got to go in. So, either of you have a plan on how to do that?"

Just as Dick seemed to ready to propose something, a large explosion sent chunks of brick and metal flying into the crowd of police officers, prompting a response of yelling and gunshots. Wally looked up at the smoke in time to see Star Sapphire emerging, trailing a large pink bubble behind her, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the energy that encased her. Wally didn't know what the large machine in the bubble was, but he was sure it wasn't hers. Then he heard a more familiar noise coming from ground level as Shade encased the front line of cops in darkness, silencing their yells and gunfire. Wally looked over at Dr Light.

"Take her down!" he yelled, pointing at Sapphire. Light nodded, and flew to intercept her. Wally gestured at Dick for him to follow his lead, and ran towards Shade, hopping over cars as he went. Unfortunately for him, Shade saw him coming, and removed his black cloud from the policemen and fired it at Wally. The blackness slid over him like oil, causing Wally to stumble and fall, rolling violently until he hit what he assumed was a wall. He was finding it harder and harder to breath as the blackness tightened around him. Wally heard the muffled noises of the battle around him, hearing the sound of Star Sapphire and Dr Light's energy blasts colliding and ricocheting off the walls, before finally hearing a dull thud followed by a snapping noise.

The blackness slid off of his body just as easily as it had encompassed him before. Wally took long, grateful breaths, and looked up to see Dick throwing Shade's broken stick to the floor. Wally surmised that he must have ran through the hole in the wall that the explosion had caused, and was now inside the building. Wally thought about how many times Dick had saved his ass in this way as Dick ran over to him.

"You okay?"

Wally smiled weakly.

"Great," he coughed, before his eyes widened in alarm and he pointed behind Dick. He ducked in time to avoid a vicious kick to the head from Shade. He retuned the favour by sending his leg into Shade's gut, sending him reeling backwards. To his credit, he recovered quickly, and was coming at Dick again. Wally forced himself to his feet and was about to intervene when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

_Must be the boy the chief was talking about._

Wally checked back to see if either Dick or Light needed his help, but they both seemed to have things well in hand. So he sped after the shape that was quickly retreating into the depths of the shadowy facility.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Damn, this kid can move fast_, Wally thought, having already lost track of the child. Wally's ears perked up as he heard a noise echoing through the corridors.

_Sounds like... a lullaby?_

Wally followed the sound through the maze of corridors until he came to a door that had been forcibly opened, the hinges warped and bent out of shape in such a way it was a miracle the door had not simply dropped off the wall. Wally cautiously entered the room, and looked around. The song was definitely coming from in here. There were papers and computer parts strewn everywhere, the smashed glass of the monitors cracking under the weight of Wally's boots. He silently thanked himself once again for putting thick soles on his boots, and then continued to the source of the haunting melody.

_It's coming from the wall?_

Wally pressed his ear to said wall as best he could, finding it very difficult with the lightning shaped ear pieces on his costume. He stepped back from the wall and clenched his fist, vibrating it faster and faster, before using it as a drill to pound through the wall. He stepped through the whole he created and into a back alley. He looked around for the source of the song, but it had stopped as soon as he had drilled through the wall.

Wally turned around and froze at what he saw.

"Toyman," he whispered, understanding now who the child was. And, like any child, Toyman had an affinity for big robots. Big, _big _robots. And this one was intent on smearing Wally on its' foot, which he surmised for himself as the right leg of the robot pulled itself up, and then brought itself down. Wally darted to the left, and ran out of the alleyway stopping at the mouth to turn around and taunt the small man controlling the robot.

"Hey! You call that a robot? I can get a better robot for $10.95 at a Wal-Mart!" he yelled, not prepared for how fast the robot could move. It leapt out of the alleyway, intent on crushing him underneath its weight, just as Wally decided it would be a good idea to move out of the way. The robot created an indentation in the sidewalk, sending a cloud of dust spewing forth from the broken gravel. Wally ran to the middle of the road, checking for bystanders, and, upon finding none, continued to taunt Toyman.

"Wow! You're _really _not good at this, are you? Maybe you should just quit while you're ahead!"

Wally was sure he heard a cry of anger from inside the robot, but it was quickly replaced by the sound of a missile being loaded and fired. Wally smirked.

_Oh please. A missile? I could dodge that in my sleep._

Wally dodged to the side, and was slightly surprised to see the missile doing the same.

_Oh, a seeker, eh?_

Wally smiled, running towards, up, and over Toyman's robot landing on the other side. He heard the satisfying noise of the missile colliding with the robot, and smirked at the angered yell that emerged from within.

"I'll get you for that! I'll-"

Wally could hear nothing for a few seconds, and then heard Toyman speak again.

"All right, fine! I'll get you some other time, speedy boy."

And with that, the robot began trudging away down the road. Wally's face scrunched up in confusion.

_What was that? It sounded like he was interrupted or something._

Wally ran in front of the robots path. "Not so fast, buddy."

The robot seemed ready to strike at him again, when Wally heard a car turning into the road, and turned to look. He quickly turned back to the robot in time to see a laser being fired towards the car.

Wally set off after it, hoping to either deflect the laser or get the people in the car out of the way in time.

Everything started to move in slow motion, from the look of horror slowly spreading across the drivers' face, to Toyman's robot blasting off behind him. All that mattered was saving the driver. Just as he was overtaking the laser beam, it occurred to Wally that he would have to be travelling _very _fast to outrun a laser beam.

And there was that question again.

_How fast can I go?_

Fear gripped Wally's soul, and he began to slow down, the laser overtaking him and heading straight for the car. Wally closed his eyes in horror, and then felt himself being hurled backwards down the road as the car exploded, sending him crashing to the ground and into unconsciousness.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: I apologise if the action scenes were a bit simple (or the opposite), but good fight scenes require skill I don't have _just _yet. With that in mind, review please!


	5. Discussion

Disclaimer: Justice League not mine.

_**First Steps**_

_**Chapter Five: Discussion**_

It was official. Dick Grayson, the superhero known as Nightwing, was exhausted. But this wasn't the usual 'Batman-running-Robin-ragged' exhausted. This was a brand new 'every-muscle-in-your-body-aches-and-your-eyes-may-actually-start-bleeding-if-you-don't-close-them-soon' type of exhausted. And, he had to admit, he had _never_ been this tired before. He just wasn't used to being split in so many different directions. In fact, Dick was so tired, he could only think one thought at a time. The biggest being:

_Why am I doing this?_

This thought had been swimming back and forth through his head for the entire day, from when he got up in the morning, to when he was filling out reports for J'onn (and some other heroes he didn't even know), to his teleporting over to Bludhaven for his nightly patrol, and especially when he returned from said patrol. In fact, this thought continued to go through his mind as he stepped off the teleporter pad, nodding his silent thanks to the operator before heading to his quarters. Apparently, all teleportations were rerouted through to the orbiting Watchtower station before being sent on to their intended destination. Dick hadn't noticed.

As he reached his quarters and entered, Dick realised that he still hadn't checked up on Wally. He looked at his bed with yearning eyes, and then looked at his clock. Dick grunted in irritation as he realised his shift would start in a little under an hour.

_Must have spent more time in Bludhaven than I thought._

Dick sighed, and turned from his bed, giving it one more sorrowful look over his shoulder before heading to the mess hall to get some coffee. As he walked down the corridor through the sea of colourfully dressed heroes, Dick realised he had unwittingly become part of the well oiled machine that was the Justice League. He no longer tried to avert his gaze from the heroes, rather nodding silently at those he knew and easily ignoring those he didn't. Before Dick could think any further on the subject, he was suddenly attacked by the noise of a busy mess hall.

He quickly went to the counter to get a cup of coffee, hoping not to get dragged into a conversation with some over friendly Leaguer. Remembering that Wally liked about 26 sugars in his coffee, he filled up two cups and grabbed as many packets of sugar as he could, before turning and heading to the infirmary. He tried to ignore the looks he was being given by the other heroes as he walked through the corridors with two cups of coffee and an armload of sugar packets.

_So much for being an unseen part of the machine._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So how're you doing?"

Wally flashed one of his trademark grins. "Pretty good. Nothing a few burgers wouldn't fix. All they're giving me here is 'what I need'," he said, using his fingers to emphasise the speech marks.

Dick let a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." There was a silence while he sipped his coffee. Dick could see him trying to hide the grimace. Obviously it wasn't 26 sugars.

"You can sit down, y'know."

Dick shook his head. "Thanks, but my shift starts in about an hour. Might fall asleep if I sit."

"You're _that _tired? What've you been doing?"

Dick shrugged. "I've been patrolling Bludhaven in my off hours."

"You've been what?"

"What? Don't you do the same with Central and Keystone?"

"Well yeah, but… I'm the fastest man alive. I'm _supposed _to be able to do that. No offence, Dick, but you're a normal guy. You need you beauty sleep."

Dick set down the coffee on the bedside table and crossed his arms. "It's no more than Batman does."

"So you're knocking yourself out to prove something to Bats?"

He gave Wally a glare. "No. I'm just saying that if he can do it, there's no reason I can't. Hell, I should be able to do it better, seeing as how I'm about fifteen years younger than him."

Wally raised an eyebrow under his mask. "You _do_ know that Bats has no life, right?"

Dick relaxed and smiled slightly, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration, trying to unknot the muscles that were tightly wound there.

"I know, but… anyway, I'm not here to talk about _my _problems, I'm here to talk about yours. I haven't seen you for a week since it happened."

Wally avoided Dick's gaze nervously. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"My heart bleeds. Talk."

Wally sighed, a heavy, weary sigh, and then started talking. "All right… how much do you already know?"

"I know that Toyman blew up a car; and that the explosion almost killed you."

Wally smiled weakly. "Oh, is that all…"

Dick decided to take the risk, and sat on the chair next to Wally's bed. "Wally. Talk to me."

"Well, Toyman was about to attack me, threatening me and all that, when he suddenly stopped talking and started to leave. I tried to stop him, and this car-" Wally stopped to take a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so, "-this car came around the corner. Toyman fired some laser at it, and I went to save the guy before it hit his car."

"And?"

"And… I didn't make it. But Supes got there in time to save the guy in the car, so…" Wally trailed off.

Dick waited for Wally to add something more, but it seemed that was all he was willing to divulge. But Dick wasn't happy with what Wally was _willing_ to give him. He wanted to know what _actually_ happened.

"Wally… what aren't you telling me?"

"How'd you mean?"

"Don't give me that. There's something you're not telling me, and I want to know what it is."

Dick noted that Wally couldn't look at him directly in the eyes. "Wally… what are you so ashamed of?"

"I uh… I need to get some rest."

Dick stared at the side of his friends head for a few seconds before rising. "All right. But if you ever need to talk…"

Wally smiled weakly as he looked at him. "Thanks."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dick stared out at the rising sun, the city of Metropolis casting magnificent shadows over the rest of the city. He let his legs dangle carelessly off the side of the Watchtower building, not minding the great drop that stretched out below him. As he had told an old friend once, Dick always enjoyed watching the sun rise in the morning.

_The promise of a new day._

Dick smiled at the memory, the thought of those simpler, happy times making him feel better, at least for a short time. He hardly ever got to see the sunrise anymore, even before he joined the League. He had forced himself to get up this morning so that he could see it, needing some reminder that there was a time where he didn't have to worry about seven things at once; only his friends. Dick smiled at the irony of how it was one of his old friends from those simpler times that was causing him so much trouble. Dick grimaced, wiping the smile from his features. It had been two days, and he still hadn't gone back to talk to Wally yet.

But he would.

Dick wasn't used to his friends keeping secrets from him; he had made a vow after working with Batman that there would never be secrets between those he cared about. Much to his regret, he had broken that vow himself a few times; always rationalising his behaviour by spouting heroic phrases like; 'It was all for the greater good' and 'I did what had to be done'. And he hated himself for it, and his friends were never exactly thrilled when he did it, either. Even now, almost a decade later, he still hated himself for keeping secrets from his friends. He knew from bitter experience what they could do to relationships, which was probably why he never had any successful ones as Dick Grayson.

Dick was so involved in his thoughts and the sunrise, he didn't notice the presence of another person on the roof. That was, until the person in question was stood directly next to where he was sitting. Dick looked to see Shayera Hol stood next to him, gazing out into the sunset.

"Didn't know anyone else but me did this," she said, never once taking her eyes off the ascending ball of light.

Dick looked out at the sun and smiled.

"I used to do it everyday when I was a teenager." He looked over at her.

"You can sit down, you know."

She looked slightly surprised by the offer, but smiled politely and sat down anyway. "So… you worked with Batman, huh?"

"That's right."

She looked over at him, then her eyes widened slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry if..."

Dick smiled and shook his head. "No, it's fine. To be honest, you're the first person to talk to me about it. That's probably a record."

She smiled back, and turned back to the sunrise. Dick looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and marvelled at the sense of déjà vu he was getting. He half expected to look down and see the waves crashing against the old island, his old metal boots reflecting his face back at him. What was it with him, sunrises and red heads?

"So how do you know Flash?" she asked, knocking him out of his fond recollections.

"We're old friends. I knew him for years back when he was Kid Flash."

She looked over at him incredulously. "_Kid _Flash?"

He smiled. He could almost picture her teasing Wally about it later on. "Yeah. But we were pretty good friends out of costume too. We went to college together."

"So you know he's-"

"Wally West."

"Right."

They shared a long, comfortable silence, before Dick forced himself to break it.

"So, you're probably pretty close to Wally if he told you his secret identity."

"No… well yes, we are, but... he didn't… tell me," she responded, obviously discomforted by the memories. Dick decided to move the conversation along swiftly.

"Well, I just wanted to know because… well…" he sighed. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that there's something eating at him, and he won't tell me what it is." He studied her face. "You know, don't you? What is it? What happened to him to change him like that?"

"I don't think I can talk about it."

Dick clenched his teeth. He had had enough of people dancing around his questions. "If you don't tell me, someone else eventually will," Dick shot at her, then instantly regretted it. He sighed and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. But if it's Wally you're worried about, I won't tell him who told me. I promise you."

She was silent. Dick sighed, stood, and turned to leave the rooftop. He was pushing the button for the elevator when she spoke.

"It happened during our fight with Luthor and Brainiac."

Dick didn't say anything; he simply turned to look at her.

"Everyone was down except for Wally. I'm not too sure on the specifics, but he ended up running faster than he ever had before. By the time I dug myself out of the rubble, he was glowing. There was this blue electricity everywhere, and he had this scared look on his face like something awful was happening. Then he…"

"Faded away?"

She turned to look at him in surprise.

"How did you…?"

"That's always been his biggest fear, ever since he was a kid."

Her eyes widened. "I had no idea…"

"Not many people do. What happened after he disappeared?"

She heaved a sigh. "We all thought he was dead. I mean, what are you _supposed _to think when someone fades away in front of your eyes?"

Dick remained silent.

"Anyway," she sighed, "J'onn told us he was still alive. Then this… portal opened, and I heard Wally's force talking about a…'Speed Force,'" She looked out into the sun so that all Dick could see was the back of her head. "We managed to pull him out eventually."

Dick nodded as the elevator arrived. Before entering, he put his hand over the door to prevent it from closing, and looked at Shayera's silhouette.

"Thank you."

He took a step into the elevator when she spoke again.

"One more thing."

"Yes?"

"He said that... if he ever went that fast again… he… wasn't coming back."

Dick nodded gravely, and entered the elevator, checking the time as he pushed the button labelled 'mess hall'. Fifteen minutes before his shift began. He took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and lowering his head as he thought. He felt the satisfaction of facts slipping into place and beginning to make sense.

_That was why Wally didn't save the man in the car in time. He slowed down out of fear. No wonder he seemed so ashamed._

Dick decided on a course of action. He redirected the elevator to the teleportation chamber, filled with a newfound energy and purpose.

_Well oiled machine be damned._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the feedback, folks! Keep it coming!


	6. Confrontation

Disclaimer: The usual.

_**First Steps**_

_**Chapter Six: Confrontation**_

Wally didn't like being by himself. At least, not for long periods of time. All it did was give him time to think, and if the events of the past few weeks had taught him anything, it would be that thinking isn't exactly productive most of the time. It reminded him of a conversation he once had with John Stewart when the Justice League consisted of a mere seven members, during a quiet day on the Watchtower.

"_I try not to think during a fight."_

_Wally looked over at him, turning away from the canvas of the planet Earth floating beneath them. _

"_You? Not think? Mister Military?"_

_John nodded, not taking his eyes off the stars laid out in front of him. _

"_If you think too much before you act, you can start thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and then-"_

"_Not act."_

_John took his eyes off the earth and turned his head towards with Wally. Then, with a completely straight face, he pointed his finger at Wally, mimicking a gun as he made a light clicking noise to show that the 'gun' had gone off._

_Wally had never laughed so hard in his life._

It was one of those conversations that Wally missed having. And not just with John. It seemed the only founding member he talked to all that much was Shayera, and while he enjoyed her company, he did miss having the occasional beer with John while they watched a movie, or playing 'find the Oreo' with J'onn. He would even admit to feeling nostalgic about his fishing expeditions with Clark, as boring as they were. Wally shook his head, and smacked the side of his head, as if attempting to knock the thoughts and feelings out the other side.

He looked over at the machine monitoring his vitals, and wondered why he was even hooked up to the thing. Were they all so paranoid to think that a few broken ribs might make him disappear again? Wally shuddered at the memory. Wally got up out of the bed, standing on unused legs, unknowingly interrupting the sensors that were monitoring his vitals, causing them to register a flat line. Wally's eyes widened at the high pitched noise, and he looked back at the machine, his teeth clenched anxiousness over being caught trying to leave.

Again.

He put his fingers to his lips. "Ssssh!"

Wally got down on his hands and knees and tried to find the socket the thing was plugged into. And then the doors opened. Wally silently cursed the thought of his butt being up in the air to greet whoever had just entered.

"Flash… what are you doing?"

_Sounds like… Clark_, Wally decided, before getting up and dusting himself off. He turned around, revealing a puzzled but slightly amused Man of Steel.

"Just trying to keep myself entertained, Supes. Not a lot to do around here." Wally always called Clark by his superhero name, which had always puzzled him slightly, since he was always so informal with everyone else. Except for Bats.

Clark smiled slightly. "And crawling on the floor was entertaining because…?"

Wally grumbled a string of words he didn't want Clark to hear (though he probably did), and then sat on his bed.

"So what's up? Can I go now?"

Clark sighed. "Well, first of all, I got a visit from a friend of yours earlier today."

Wally looked up, interested. "Really? Who?"

"Nightwing."

Wally swung his legs back onto his bed, and rested his head on the pillow.

"Oh. What did he want?" he said, trying to sound relaxed about the whole thing.

Clark took a deep breath. "He's worried about you, Flash. To be honest, we all are. Ever since what happened with Luthor and Brainiac, you've been-"

"What?" Wally snapped viciously, obviously shocking Clark. Usually, Wally would feel guilty about the sad look crossing over the Big Blue Boy Scout's face, but he was too angry.

I'll regret it later, he thought, making a note in his mental diary.

"I've talked about it with the others, and we all agree that you should be taken off the active roster. At least for a few weeks."

Wally sat up in his bed fast enough to give any normal man whiplash. "A few weeks? You've gotta be kidding me!"

"I'm sorry Wally, but it was a unanimous decision. As of right now, you're on leave."

"Does that at least mean I can get out of here?"

"Yes, but-"

He didn't even get a chance to finish. Wally shot out of the medical bay, leaving Clark's cape flapping in the resulting breeze. If Wally hadn't left so soon, he would have seen the look of sadness on Clark's face deepen, before he sighed and left the room himself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wally stepped into the mess hall, and quickly looked around. He was hungry, but that could wait. He spotted Supergirl eating with Booster Gold, and shot over to their table.

"Have you seen Nightwing?" he said to Supergirl, not even looking at Booster.

"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine," he grumbled. Wally paid him no mind, finding it hard to care. Supergirl munched her food thoughtfully, and then swallowed.

"I think he went to the gym. But don't quote me on that."

The gym. That definitely sounded like Dick. Wally nodded and forced a smile.

"Thanks. See you guys later," he said, heading off to the gym faster than he probably should indoors. He was sure he heard some people shouting at him to slow down, but he ignored them. He quickly reached the gym, and stepped inside, revealing its sole occupant, one Richard Grayson. He was pounding away half heartedly (for him) on a punching bag that was suspended from the ceiling. He saw Wally and stopped, a half smile on his face.

"Hey, Wally, how-"

"What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Dick recoiled slightly, clearly surprised by the sudden outburst. "What?"

"Heading off to Supes and telling him I needed some time off!"

Dick put his hands up in front of him in surrender. "Woah, Woah, back up, Wally. I didn't tell him to give you time off, I just told him that they needed to talk to you about the whole Luthor and Brainiac thing."

Wally was silent. He narrowed his eyes.

"Who told you about that?" he said quietly. Dangerously quiet.

Dick held Wally's gaze, and answered slowly. "I-"

"John? Bats? Shayera?"

Dick crossed his arms. "I'm not at liberty to say."

"Well, whoever it was, they had no right to tell you about it."

"No right… I had every right, Wally!"

"How'd you figure?"

"Because I'm one of your oldest friends! Doesn't that count for something in your book?"

Wally felt shame creeping up on him, quelling his anger. The more he thought about it, the more he realised he should have told Dick. In fact, he was one of the few people he could talk to about it without his job in the League coming under threat. Wally sat on a nearby bench, and looked up at Dick.

"I see you're still a strong believer in that friendship stuff you spouted as Robin, huh?"

"Damn right."

"Dick… I'm sorry. I was just angry, I guess."

Dick's face softened slightly as he shrugged.

"I think I can understand that," he said, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Understatement of the year," Wally said, suddenly feeling a calmness washing over him. Dick sat down next to him, resting his back on the wall.

"So," he said cautiously, "how long are you on leave?"

"A few weeks."

Dick nodded slowly. "What are you planning to do with it?"

"That's the thing. I don't know. Ever since the whole Luthor/Brainiac thing, I've been trying to bury myself in… Flash stuff, I guess. I mean, I haven't given up on being Wally West, but…"

"You need the work to distract you. So you don't think about it too much."

Wally turned to look at him. "How'd you-"

"Because I used to do the same thing. I remember once, years ago, when me and Bruce were caught in the middle of a pretty nasty gang war, and I got shot in the arm. Nothing serious, but enough to put the fear of God into me, you know? For weeks afterwards I would constantly try to keep busy, and try not to think about it, but when the time came to take down another hood with a gun, I froze. I just… stood there. All I could think about was the pain I felt on that night when I got shot."

"What happened?"

"Bruce took him down, and then we talked about it back at the cave."

"Bats talked? In a consoling, caring way?"

"He wasn't always the serious hardass he is now, you know."

"Huh. Didn't know he had it in him."

"Anyway, we talked about it, and he gave me some advice that night that I just can't seem to forget."

"And what was that?"

Dick paused.

"'Deal with it'."

Wally chuckled lightly, and before long, he was laughing like he had at John on the old Watchtower. Before long, Dick was laughing with him. Wally looked over at Dick, and for the first time since he was pulled out of the Speed Force, he was at ease.

"Hey Dick?" he said between laughs, attempting to catch his breath.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Dick smiled, that same quirky smile he only used for his friends. "Anytime."

Before anything else could be said, Green Lantern's voice came over the intercom.

"_Nightwing, Plastic Man, Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E, report to the teleportation chamber, on the double."_

"Duty calls."

Wally smiled. "Lucky."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wally stepped out of the elevator and onto the rooftop, and looked out onto the city, finally understanding why Dick used to do this so much when he was younger. Wally made a note to make sure he got up to see it at least once a week. It was invigorating to see. But that wasn't the reason Wally had forced himself up so early in the morning. The real reason was sat cross legged near the edge of the building, watching the sun rise over the towering skyscrapers of Metropolis. He made his way over and sat down on her left.

"Hey."

She looked over and seemed quite shocked. To her credit, she recovered quickly.

"Morning. Why are you up so early?" She paused in thought. "Come to think of it, aren't you supposed to be on leave?"

Wally shrugged and smiled. "As long as I'm not on missions, I'm welcome to stick around. Not that I'm planning to."

"Of course."

They shared a silence as they both looked at the rising sun. Shayera turned her head towards him.

"Look, Wally, I just wanted to say-"

Wally put a hand up mid sentence to stop her. "It's okay. You were just doing what you thought was right. I should've told him anyway."

Shayera nodded her head, and again looked out to the sun.

"It's just…"

She turned to look at him. He continued to stare out onto the horizon.

"He's pretty much the only person around here who doesn't see me as some kid, y'know? He…" Wally smiled, well aware of how childish he sounded, "respected me. I always get the feeling that the rest of you look down on me."

Shayera put a hand on her shoulder. Wally waited for the kind words of consolation. "Wally… wake up."

"What?"

"I can't believe you actually believed we thought you were useless. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? You _do _know you have the potential to be one of the most powerful members of the League, right?"

"I do?"

"Yeah. Just stop goofing around all the time."

Wally frowned thoughtfully.

"I suppose… but then where would we be? Would you have half as much fun with me as you would if I acted like, say, " Wally smiled, and put his fingers on either side of his head, imitating a certain Dark Knight, "Bats?"

Shayera laughed. "I guess not."

But Wally was lost in his impression. He stood and put on his best Batman voice. "I am the night! I am Justice! I wear ladies undergarments in secret!"

Shayera pulled him down to the ground. "You _do _realise the cameras up here pick up sound too?"

Wally gulped, not looking forward to Bats' retaliation. He had a pretty nasty mind when it came to pranks.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, I'd better shut up then."

"Probably best."

The silence that followed was born out of such trust and friendship that no words were needed. As the sun began to lose its peaceful orange hue and the city of Metropolis gradually came alive, Wally realised that there were very few people he could sit in silence with like this, and how lucky he was that he was surrounded by these people. Wally grimaced as he remembered how badly he had treated Clark in the medical bay the previous day, and decided he would have to do something to make it up to him. But right now, nothing was more important to him than simply enjoying a quiet moment with another old friend.

"Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"_Kid_ Flash?"

Wally sighed.

_Old friends suck._

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not done yet, so keep them reviews coming!


	7. Realisation

Disclaimer: Don't own Justice League, blah blah blah.

_**First Steps**_

_**Chapter Seven: Realisation**_

Dick stumbled into the Javelin, looking for an available seat. The battle had been long and hard, and Dick thought that his invigoration from his conversation with Wally would help fight off his constant exhaustion.

His mistake. He ended up getting beaten around by the World's Nastiest because of his lack of sleep. It hadn't helped that the mission was in Gotham, which just added aggravation to an already tense situation.

_Of all the times and places I had to be so sloppy, it had to be while _he_ was there _and_ in his own backyard._

The teleporters on the Watchtower satellite and the building were busy with injured bystanders, leaving the heroes to get a Javelin back, along with some of the less critically injured civilians. He silently cursed as he realised the only chair left was next to _him._ He gritted his teeth and forced himself over to the unoccupied chair, gently cradling his injured right arm as he went. As he sat, Bruce raised an eyebrow, looking at the damaged appendage.

"You should get that looked at."

Dick kept his view straight ahead. "Once we get back."

"No, you should get that looked at now. When you get cut by Clayface, the infection spreads fast. Trust me."

Dick resisted the urge to snort in contempt at the last statement, but instead opted to just ignore him.

_It'll only take half an hour to get back. You can stand thirty minutes with him._

Dick glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "What are you doing?"

"Checking the wound."

"I told you, it's fine. I'll get it checked when I get back."

"And _I _told you that it needs looking at now."

Dick took a deep breath and resisted the urge to grit his teeth together even more than he already was, fearing they may shatter under the pressure.

"Fine."

Dick held out his arm and hid the wince as Bruce rolled up his sleeve to inspect the wound. He reached into his utility belt, and pulled out a small aerosol can which contained a memorably painful disinfectant. Dick tried valiantly not to show any evidence of his pain as Bruce sprayed the solution onto the open wound. If he noticed Dick's discomfort, he didn't comment on it. Bruce put the can back in his belt, and brought out a roll of bandage, proceeding to wrap it around the arm. Once he had unwrapped the entire roll, he rubbed the end of the bandage, activating the adhesive that would keep it together. He pulled away from Dick and sat back in his seat. Dick looked at his arm, and then rolled the sleeve back up.

"Uh… thanks."

He simply nodded, and looked out the window. Dick looked out of his own window, and upon deciding he didn't particularly want to look at the destruction wrought by their battle, reached into his utility belt for his Bludhaven police radio scanner. He brought out the headphones and placed one in his ear, holding two fingers over it so as to hear it more clearly. He waited patiently through the standard reports and banter, waiting for any indication of a crime in progress. If anything serious started up, he planned to get dropped off before they reached Metropolis. Dick's attention rose as something was reported in concerning Blockbuster.

"_Four dead on the scene…and one just barely alive, if you could call it that."_

"_All of them linked with Blockbuster?"_

"_Well, two of 'em, definitely, but the other two… no, I don't think so Sarg."_

A sigh.

"_All right, I'll be over as soon as I can."_

Dick turned off the transmitter and put it back in his utility belt.

_Four dead… and two of them had nothing to do with Blockbuster in the first place._

He rested his head back onto the chair, and looked up at the ceiling.

_What's the point of being Bludhaven's 'guardian' if I can't ever be there?_

"Problem?"

Dick looked over at Bruce, surprised that he even bothered to talk to him. "No, nothing."

Bruce was silent for a moment. "Trouble in Bludhaven?"

Dick looked at him in amazement, then smiled. "Not the 'World's Greatest Detective' for nothing."

"So?"

"So, what?"

"I know the look, you know."

"What look?"

"The look of questioning your priorities. I felt the same when I first associated myself with the League."

Dick smirked slightly, amused that Bruce couldn't admit that he had joined the League, even though most of it was funded (and sometimes run) by him in the first place. Then he realised that for the first time in a long time, Bruce was talking to him. Actually talking. And Dick was doing nothing in return except thinking of snide remarks to give back. Dick felt a small twinge of guilt, as well as some confusion.

_What's wrong with me? Why can't I just talk to him like I used to?_

_Because he lied to you. He betrayed you._

_That was a long time ago._

The more Dick thought on the matter, the more he thought that Bruce's deception may have actually helped him in many ways, if indirectly. He was reminded of something Koriand'r had said to him many years ago:

_"It has always been my experience on Earth that when something bad happens, no matter how horrible, something good will always come from it. And no matter how small that good thing is, it will always make enduring the bad thing worthwhile."_

Dick felt warmed by the memory, and decided that while he could never be as close as he once was with the Dark Knight, that didn't mean that he couldn't go to him for advice and help, just as a son would his father. And at the moment, he felt the weight of about ten worlds on his shoulders.

"How do you do it, Batman?"

Dick stumbled on 'Batman', almost calling him Bruce, before quickly taking account of where he was. For some reason that escaped him, he really _wanted _to call him Bruce right now. Calling him Batman just didn't seem right.

"Do what?"

"Split yourself in so many directions?"

"Our situations are different. I only have to worry about two directions. You have to worry about four."

Dick frowned. "Not really. I mean, my personal life isn't exactly… like it once was, and the old team doesn't call me up that much, just for advice now and then. We're even."

He raised an eyebrow. "Even?"

"You split two ways, I split two ways. And yet... you still seem to do it so easily." Dick fixed him with a stare. "How?"

He was silent for what seemed an eternity, his emotions perfectly masked by his shadow encased cowl.

"The simple answer is… I don't."

Now it was Dick's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"There's a reason I didn't want Batgirl and Robin in the League, you know."

Realisation struck Dick. Hard. The more he thought back on the past few months, he _had _seen less and less of Barbara and Tim. So much so that he had simply stopped calling them after awhile, simply talking to Alfred. And even he seemed rushed off his feet, most likely treating injuries sustained on their extended sojourns into the Gotham underworld. Dick felt a slight spark of anger at Bruce for putting them in such danger so callously, then realised he would most likely do the same thing in his position. For the first time since he joined the League, Dick began to worry about himself.

There wasn't much talking on the way back to the Watchtower building.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After having a quick shower and heading to medical bay for a check up (Bruce's dressing and technique was described as excellent by the medical staff; Dick wasn't surprised), Dick decided to get something to eat before heading out to Bludhaven to check the murder scene. His conversation with Bruce was still rattling around in his head, as he began to question his reasons for even being in the Justice League. He tried to create a mental list as he picked up a tray and helped himself to the food available. He was struggling with reason number one when he sensed someone stood next to him.

"Hey, tall, dark and moody."

He looked over to see the smiling face of Kara Kent. "Hey, Supergirl. How've you been?"

"Better than you look. Tough day at the office?" she said, placing a sandwich on her tray to accompany the cup of coffee next to it.

Dick smiled.

"Something like that," he said, hoping the exhaustion didn't show in his voice as he collected the same meal as Kara.

Kara continued to talk as they walked over to a table together.

"Y'know, you can ask for leave occasionally if you have a good reason," she said, sitting as she did so.

Dick shook his head as he sat. "Don't think that would help much." Which was true. If he wanted to be truly effective in Bludhaven, he would have to be constantly able to respond to crime at a moments notice. As it was now, he hadn't busted a perp since he joined the League.

"You're not thinking about leaving, are you?"

Dick looked over at her worried face, and instantly felt a twang of guilt, even though he didn't really know Kara that well, only knowing her from Barbara's parties. He shrugged. "Don't know. Haven't thought about it really."

She sighed in relief. "Well, good. You're the closest thing to Batgirl I've got around here."

"Um… thanks?"

She looked over at him and smiled. "You know what I mean."

Dick nodded with a tired smile. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Kara's tense shoulders relaxed and she continued eating. Dick listened to the sound of her chewing, and looked down at his own food, realising that he wasn't all that hungry.

_I seem to be realising a lot of things today…_

Dick's eyes began to close against his will, and his head fell with it, dipping his hair in the gravy that was on his plate. He forced his head back up quickly, causing a small spray of gravy to fly out his hair, most of it landing harmlessly on the table or on the floor. The rest went on Kara.

"Nightwing! Watch where you're sleeping!" she said irritably, looking down at her gravy stained shirt. Dick looked over at her apologetically, too tired to fight the embarrassed blush on his cheeks.

"Sorry… just tired," he said, speaking through a yawn too powerful to deny.

"Well… go drink some coffee or something," she said, calming slightly. She looked at his face. "Or get some sleep. You look awful."

Dick shook his head. "Can't. Got a patrol to do."

She looked at him with disbelief painted across her features. "You're still patrolling Bloodhut or whatever?"

"Bludhaven… and yes."

"Why? I mean… why?"

Dick shrugged. "Because no-one else will."

She stared at him with a look that said 'you're an idiot', then shook her head. "Get some rest, Dick. Let the police worry about Blood… whatever."

Dick stood and smiled. "Thanks. But I've got enough energy to do this for years."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After he washed the gravy out of his hair, Dick spent a long time looking at himself in the mirror, wishing that he felt half as confident as he had sounded to Kara. He looked at the sickeningly deep bags under his eyes, and felt as if they were lead weights pulling his eyes closed every time he wasn't fighting for his life. This was when he felt something in his gut that hurt more than anything Clayface or the Joker or Blockbuster could ever do to him.

_I can't keep this up._

As much as he wanted to prove he could do what Bruce did every day, he knew he couldn't, because Bruce didn't do what Dick thought he did. He thought Bruce somehow continually looked after his city while still helping the likes of Wally, Superman and Wonder Woman to save the world on a regular basis. Talking to Bruce earlier today, Dick was reminded of something about Bruce that he always seemed to forget.

He was only human. Just like Dick.

And just like Dick, he had forced himself to rely on others. Dick had done it at a much earlier age, first with Bruce, then with the Titans, and now with the League. But Dick didn't want to ask the League or the Titans or Bruce to help him defend Bludhaven, just as Bruce wouldn't ask Green Lantern for help in protecting Gotham. Bludhaven was _his _city. Or at least, he wanted it to be. But in order for that to happen, Dick knew that something had to be sacrificed. He had to make a choice between the two. Dick looked at his reflection again.

_Some choice._

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Thanks for the feedback, folks! Just a few quick answers to questions I've seen:

1: Shade can fight pretty good, as shown in 'Secret Society, part 2'.

2: Booster saw Wonder Woman naked because her shower was broken, so she used Booster's. I probably wasn't clear enough, sorry about that (I'll probably edit that later anyway).

And finally, regarding Titans references: bear in mind I'm not being too specific about the whole thing, so that you, the esteemed reader, can either think it's the Titans from the show or some alternate DCAU version of the Titans. _However,_ my knowledge of the _Teen Titans _characters comes from the T.V. show, so that's why Starfire (or anyone else that _might_ appear) potentially sounded different than she does in the comics (which I wouldn't know).

Keep those reviews coming, I'm not done yet!


	8. Decision

Disclaimer: Justice League not mine.

**First Steps**

**Chapter 8: Decision**

_Why Me?_

Wally looked up to the ceiling in the hope that God would answer his question, but was only greeted by yet more awkward silence. He glanced over at Fire, then quickly put his eyes back in their proper position, facing forward.

_How do you get stuck in the same elevator with the same beautiful woman in the same month?_

Wally began to think of all the things he was going to do today, trying to take his mind off the woman standing next to him in the elevator.

_Okay…_

_1. Get something to eat. (She even smells good)._

_2. Talk to Supes. (Is she looking at me?)_

_3. Get something to eat. (Focus focus focus.)_

_4. Go to Central City. (Damn. It.)_

Wally decided to throw caution to the wind. He turned towards her to start a conversation, when the elevator doors opened, revealing Dick Grayson stood in front of the doors. As he spotted Wally, he smiled.

"There you are. I was hoping to catch you before you left."

Fire looked over at Wally, a concerned look on her face. "You're leaving?"

Wally's brain melted.

"Wha… well, I… he… yeah," he squeezed out, the amused look crossing Dick's face making Wally hate the closed quarters of the elevator all the more.

"Permanently?"

"N-no… just a vacation. I-I'll see you again, don't worry."

Wally realised how what he said could be interpreted and started to blush, despite his best efforts to resist. Fire smiled as the elevator stopped on her floor.

"I'll look to forward to it then," she said, waving as she left. The elevator doors closed. Dick's smug smile increased, causing Wally's embarrassed blush to turn into one of anger.

"Smooth," he said, his voice dripping with amused sarcasm.

"Oh yeah? Look who's talking? 'Oh, Starfire! I loooove you! _Pleeeeeease _go out with me!"

The two swapped expressions, Dick's becoming an annoyed frown while a smirk spread across Wally's face.

"At least _I _could to talk to my girl. You're afraid of yours," Dick grumbled.

"Am not," Wally challenged, reminding him of the numerous arguments he would have with Garfield that always descended into 'Am not's and 'Am too's. He couldn't remember ever having one with Dick though. And Dick wasn't about to break that tradition.

"Anyway…" he said, "I wanted to ask you a favour."

Wally studied his friend's masked face. He was obviously troubled about something, but Wally let it go as being a result of being run ragged.

"Fire away."

"Could I have a meeting with the original League members?"

Wally scratched his cheek as he thought. "Gee, I dunno. It's kinda hard to get all seven of us together at once. Usually there's only about three of us in one place at a time."

"Well, just two or three would do."

"Why? What's the problem?"

"Uh… it's…"

The elevator door opened, revealing Shining Knight. Wally and Dick made room for him, then went back to their conversation.

"Well?"

"I'd rather not… talk about it here. Could you just organise it, please?"

Wally thought for a moment. "Okay. I think that Supes and G.L are here, I'll see if they can spare some time. Where'll you be if I need to call you?"

"Monitor duty."

Wally nodded. "Okay. I'll call you to tell you when."

"Thanks."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What with now being a man on a mission, Wally decided to skip the first step on his list and move straight on to his second. He had gone to the control center and had been told by a member of the staff that Supes had gone to see the Atom about something. Wally figured that the Atom would be in the laboratory area of the Watchtower building and went there first.

He approached the door to the lab and saw the Atom through the window. He entered, marvelling at the various devices scattered around the room, wondering what each one was for. He looked up at the Atom, who had his back to him. Wally always found visiting the Atom fun, even though he got angry at him a lot for interfering with his experiments. It was shame, because the Atom seemed like the kind of guy that was easy to get along with, and Steel didn't mind when Wally messed around with his experiments, although his experiments usually looked pretty deadly. Atom's experiments always looked so… interesting. Wally looked at the scientist in question. He was preoccupied with some strange device he was tweaking, looking at it through some odd looking goggles.

"Hey, Atom?"

He held up his hand to stop him from talking, and Wally complied, tapping his foot impatiently. His foot gradually became faster and faster the longer the Atom remained silent.

"What'cha working on?"

"Something… very… delicate…"

"Why don't you just shrink?"

"Because… the quantiphasic properties… of the paradigm matrixes… interferes with…" he trailed off, consumed in his work.

"Your shrinking thingy?"

He remained silent.

"Atom?"

"Mmm?"

"Really need to talk to you..."

"Mmm."

Silence fell yet again. Wally frowned in frustration and stepped forward, putting his hand on the Atom's shoulder to get his attention. Atom yet out a small yelp, and Wally saw a bright light flash from where he stood behind the Atom. Atom put the strange device on the table top before him, and, sighing, removed his goggles. He turned to face Wally, his face scorched from the bright light that Wally had seen earlier.

"Yes, Flash?" he said with a tone of voice that Wally nicknamed 'Angry Atom'.

"Have you seen Supes?"

"No."

"Oh. Supergirl?"

"No."

"Steel?"

"Flash."

"Yeah?"

"Get. Out."

Wally backed away from the fuming scientist, and kept on going until he saw the door to the laboratory slide in front of him and he was stood in the corridor.

_Okay, Supes isn't in there._

A voice came over the comm. system.

"_Vigilante, Green Arrow and Captain Atom report to the teleportation chamber," _John's voice boomed, before promptly turning off the comm.

_Well, that's John out. _

Wally's head perked up. _Wait… Captain Atom? Maybe that guy had said Captain Atom, come to think of it. And now he's headed for the teleporter room._

Wally thought about this for a moment before his eyes widened and he shot down the corridor towards the teleportation chamber. As he entered the room, he saw Captain Atom stepping up to the teleporter pad. Wally cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Captain Atom!"

He turned, and Wally ran up to him. "Do you know where Superman is?"

"Yeah, I talked to him a few minutes ago. He said he was heading out for the day."

"Where'd you see him last?"

"The R&R room."

Wally grinned and put his thumbs up. "Thanks a lot, guy."

John floated over and gave Wally a look. "Problem?"

"Nope. Where're you headed?"

"Trouble in Japan."

"So you'll probably be out for the day, huh?"

John nodded. "Probably, why?"

Wally shook his head lightly and shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. See you guys later!" he said, shooting off in the direction of the R&R room.

He spotted Clark as soon as he entered, part of a crowd watching a game of Chess between Plastic Man and Elastic Man (who Wally knew better as Ralph Dibny). Plastic Man was his usual cheery self, while Ralph continually had look of constant distaste on his face. It made Wally tired to even think of the amount of times he has sat listening to Ralph's 'Plastic Man sucks' tirades. He carefully approached the game, being careful not distract either player, and made his way towards Clark. For some reason, he had some uncontrollable urge to shout a greeting to Clark from the other side of the room, but decided against it, having already made the Atom angry at him today. He stood next to Clark and tried valiantly to pay attention to the game, his arms behind his back in his best 'smart guy' impression. He leaned towards Clark.

"Who's winning?" he whispered.

Clark glanced over at him quickly, obviously not wanting to miss a moment. He smiled. "Plastic Man."

Ralph's head shot up to look at him. "He is not."

Plastic Man just grinned. Wally had always liked Plastic Man, from the first day he had met him. He had an easygoing charm about him, but he also had this _very_ crazy side, like he was on a constant sugar high. Quiet frankly, Wally was amazed that Plastic Man had sat down long enough to play a game of chess.

Unfortunately, Wally also made fast friends with Ralph, having liked him for his immaturity that was masked by his serious demeanour. Wally wondered which one he should support, but simply opted to remain silent.

Ralph stretch out a finger and moved a piece forward. Wally had no idea how to play this game, and so couldn't tell which piece it was. He simply looked at the reaction of the people watching to see if it was a good move. Evidently, so was Ralph. He paused before putting the piece down, looking first at the reaction of his audience, then at his opponent. Plastic Man just grinned at him, taking a huge bite out of his chocolate bar. Yet another reason Wally liked the guy – he always had food with him, hidden in some stretched pocket of his body.

After much silent deliberating, the piece came down. Plastic Man's grin grew even larger, and Ralph's face fell.

"Ah, crap," he muttered.

Plastic Man moved a piece and knocked Ralph's over.

"Checkmate," he said through a mouthful of chocolate.

Wally sighed, thankful that he had come in at the end of the game. He tapped Clark's shoulder.

"Hey, Supes?"

Clark grinned as Ralph grumbled about Plastic Man cheating in some way, then sipped at his coffee as he turned to look at Wally.

"What can I do for you, Flash?" he said, gesturing to an empty table and sitting down.

Wally sat opposite him, his attention suddenly drawn to Plastic Man pestering Ralph to change into something as a result of losing the game. Ralph shouted at him a few times, then finally relented, stretching his form into that of a chair. Plastic Man laughed and leapt onto Ralph, prompting a muffled cry from somewhere in the chair. Wally slowly turned his head back to Clark.

"I was wondering what you were doing now?"

"I was about to head off to the Planet. Why?"

"Well, first of all…" Wally started to fidget.

_Why are apologies always so difficult to get out?_

"Flash?"

"I uh… just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I treated you in the medical bay before. I know you were doing what was best and all that, and I just wanted to say I was sorry for how I acted."

Clark smiled and placed a hand on Wally's shoulder. "You don't need to apologise, Flash. I understand."

Wally smiled back. "Okay. Now that's out of the way, I wanted to ask a favour."

Clark eyed him suspiciously over his coffee cup. "And what would that be?"

Wally put his hands up defensively. "Nothing embarrassing or anything, I swear. Nightwing just wanted to have a meeting with some founding members."

Clark raised a dark eyebrow. "Any reason?"

"No… but it seemed pretty serious. I don't think he'd take up too much time, so…"

Clark nodded, smiling as he did so. "Okay Flash. Where is he now?"

"He's on monitor duty, so we'll have to wait for his shift to end first."

Clark's face darkened slightly. "I don't want to be hanging around here all day, Flash."

"I know, I know, but... he's an old friend of mine, and I owe him more than I can remember. We could play some chess or whatever while we wait, and… well, think of it this way; now I'll owe you one."

Clark shook his head. "It's okay, Flash. You don't have to be indebted to me."

"No, no, you're going out of your way for me; I'd like to pay you back. Let's see… I could…" he checked around the room before speaking. "Help out around the farm."

Clark shook his head. "No, Flash, it's-"

"Or maybe I could help you out at the Planet. I always wanted to work in a newspaper."

"Flash-"

"Or maybe-"

"Flash!"

Everyone in the room turned towards the table, and Clark smiled at them apologetically, his cheeks reddening slightly. Wally let out a big Cheshire grin. He had never seen Superman blush. It was a very odd experience.

"C'mon, Supes, there's gotta be something I can do."

He was silent as he seemed to give the matter some serious thought. "Well, now that you mention it… I was supposed to go fishing with Kara, but something came up, so…"

Wally grin became a warm smile as he nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure Supes."

Clark once again eyed him suspiciously.

"Really?" he said, sounding more like a statement than a question.

He shrugged. "Yeah, why not? Who knows, could be fun."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The doors to the League conference room opened and Dick stepped through. Wally grinned at his friend, raising his hand in a quick wave. Dick smiled back, and turned his eyes towards Clark. Wally was anxious to know what was troubling his friend so much, and leaned forward on the table.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I… hope it wasn't too much trouble."

Clark smiled the classic Superman smile, which Wally had noticed could put almost anyone at ease. Except, of course, for Bats.

"Not at all. What's the problem?" he said, gesturing for Dick to take a seat.

Wally noted with some interest that Dick sat in Bat's chair. He wasn't sure if it was a subconscious thing, or if he actually remembered from the last time he was in here. Wally put it out of his head as Dick spoke.

"Well… I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but I've been becoming increasingly…"

"Exhausted," Wally put in.

Dick nodded.

"This is because I've been patrolling Bludhaven every night, while attending to my League duties during the day."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "When do you sleep?"

"He doesn't," Wally said, ignoring the glare that Dick was giving him.

"Is that true?"

Dick looked as though he was about to deny it, then sighed.

"Yes. I've been sleeping less and less in order to fulfil my responsibilities to both Bludhaven and the League."

"What about the Titans? You work with them occasionally as well, don't you?"

Dick seemed slightly surprised that Clark knew of his affiliation with Titans, but quickly recovered, nodding before he spoke. "Sometimes. But nowhere near as much as with the League."

Clark was silent for a moment. "If this is about changing your level of work, I'm afraid that's just not possible. Your life outside the League and how you manage it is your own business."

Wally decided to speak up. "We could help him out, couldn't we?"

Clark looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean we could get some heroes to patrol Bludhaven now and then, couldn't we?"

Clark bowed his head in thought. "I suppose… it would take some working out, but-"

Dick's voice cut into the conversation sharply.

"No."

Wally looked up at him, surprised.

"No?"

"Bludhaven is my city. I don't want other heroes doing my work."

He sighed heavily. "This has been a very hard choice for me. And I want you to know it wasn't just a snap decision."

He looked Clark straight in the eyes as he spoke. "With that being said, I would like to respectfully resign from the Justice League."

Wally's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it.

_This is his great solution? To QUIT?_

"You're… what?" he said, the question coming out in a whisper.

Dick looked at him, sadness written on his face. "I'm sorry, Flash. But… there are plenty of people that can do what I do in the League. In most cases, they can do them better. But no-one else can, or will, look after Bludhaven. Except for me. It's my responsibility. And I have to live up to it."

He looked over at Clark and brought his Watchtower I.D card from his utility belt and handed it over to him.

"Thank you for your time, Superman," he said holding the card in front of him. Clark took the other end and smiled.

"Thank _you_, Nightwing. I'm sorry to lose you."

Dick smiled. "And tell Supergirl that I'm sorry, but she'll have to do without her Batgirl replacement."

"Will do."

Dick stood, as did Clark and Wally. He nodded at them both and left. Wally followed him out, nodding a goodbye to Clark as he pursued. He put a hand on Dick's shoulder as he pushed the button for the elevator, causing him to turn around. Dick was obviously expecting Wally to be angry with him, because he seemed genuinely surprised to see Wally with his hand extended, and a sad smile on his usually cheery face. He gladly took his hand and shook it.

"Not going to try and convince me to stay?"

"Would it have done any good?"

Dick smiled.

"That's what I thought. It was a fun few weeks though, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Sure you won't consider becoming a part timer like Bats?"

"Thanks, but somehow I don't think that would help much."

Wally's face wrinkled slightly as he struggled to say the right words to his friend. "Dick… thanks."

"What for?"

"For helping me to get over… everything. Y'know?"

Dick smiled, looking down to see that they were still shaking hands. "Yeah. I do."

Wally looked down and laughed, slowly letting the handshake drop.

"See you around, Wally."

"Yeah. I'll come visit you in Bludhaven sometime."

"Likewise."

The elevator arrived, and Dick stepped inside. He gave a mock salute as the doors closed. Wally gave him a thumbs up.

He waited until the elevator doors closed before turning around and heading back to the conference room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feedback taste good. More!


	9. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Justice League ain't mine.

_**First Steps**_

_**Epilogue: The Reunion**_

The clock tower in the city of Bludhaven struck four. Dick Grayson, the superhero otherwise known as Nightwing, freely looked over at the clock, surprised at the time. He quickly snapped his head back ahead of him, not wanting to miss the man he was waiting for.

_What's taking him so long? _

Dick leaned against the nearby wall, his arms folded, and began tapping his arm with his fingers, gently drumming the time away.

_He's never this late. Every week, the same place, the same time. _

Dick went over all the things that could have happened in order to delay him to this extent. He began considering his options and what he could do when he caught a glimpse of him walking down the street. Dick smiled. Even though he looked older than the last time he had seen him (out of costume), Wally West was still as recognisable as ever, not least because of the huge grin plastered over his face as he spotted Dick. He gave Dick an enthusiastic wave as he walked over. Dick raised his hand in response as he pushed himself off the wall.

It still seemed strange to Dick, meeting in public without costumes, and he had been trying his utmost not to adopt any Nightwing-esque poses on the remote chance that someone would recognise him. Not that there was any danger of that happening, though. When he fought the criminals of Bludhaven, he beat them up so quickly they rarely saw what hit them, and because of the shadowy nature of his costume, most of the time they only saw a black figure stalking towards them.

"Sorry I'm late, there was trouble in Keystone. So, when's the party starting?"

Dick smiled. He hadn't been too enthusiastic on the idea of having a party at his apartment, but since Wally had hosted the last one at his, it seemed only fair. That, and Wally said he had some 'surprise guests' planned, and Dick's curiosity got the better of him. Wally had told him to invite anyone he wanted as well, so Dick had invited Barbara and Kara. He had tried to contact the Titans, but was told they were out of town. Dick was slightly disappointed, having not seen them in well over a three months, but felt some relief at the fact as well. He did not need Barbara and Koriand'r meeting. Catfights do not a good party make, though Wally would probably disagree with him on that.

"About eight. When are your 'mystery guests' arriving?"

Wally grinned, but it wasn't his usual grin. This one was borne of true evil. "Oh, they'll be here."

That made Dick uncomfortable. Wally had a nasty streak in him when it came to pranks and practical jokes, and his hanging around with Plastic Man had only made it worse, or so Shayera had told him. Dick had invited her too, but she seemed hesitant, and Dick could understand why. Most of the people attending the party were at least ten years younger than her, and the only person whom she knew too well was Wally. True, she and Dick had become fast friends, but nowhere near as close as she was to Wally. Dick had thought he saw something else behind the hesitation when he talked to her, but he had put it aside, putting it down to spending too much time around Batman.

Dick made no effort to hide his discomfort, and Wally laughed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dick had no idea what he was doing. And Wally knew it.

"Dick, what the hell is that?"

"Uh… party music."

Wally looked at him with a mix of distaste and pity, and whizzed over to the stereo that Dick stood next to.

"Yeah, if you're about twelve."

Dick's embarrassment rose to his cheeks. No wonder the store clerk gave him such a strange look when he bought the CD.

"Hey, it's been a long time since I did this."

"What do you mean, since _you _did this? As I recall, it was always either me or Cyborg that would put any parties together back then."

Dick's embarrassment changed to irritation. "Well then, what would you suggest?"

Wally smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask. Don't go anywhere; I'll be back in a few minutes."

"A few minutes?"

"Hey, even the Fastest Man Alive has to wait in line."

And with that, Wally was gone. Dick sighed and took out the CD that was in the stereo and dropped it in the trashcan. He went to the kitchen to check the supplies for the party. Wally had given him a rather extensive list of food and drink, and, remembering just how Wally could eat, Dick had decided to buy double of everything. He hoped that Wally could eat as much as he remembered. He looked around the kitchen.

_Well, may as well start somewhere._

He reached inside the fridge, and pulled out a beer. Just as he managed to wrestle the top off, he heard knocking at the door. He looked at the clock, and frowned when he saw that it read eight thirty. He shrugged and went to the door, undoing all the locks and latches. Just as he opened the door, he was tackled in the middle by an orange and purple blur, which now held him in a death grip. Dick's beer went flying up in the air, and Dick looked down to see Koriandr's beaming face looking back up at him.

"It is wonderful to see you again, Dick!"

"You too, Kori," he gasped, trying desperately to get her to loosen her grip. Her eyes widened and let go him, a sheepish smile creeping across her face. Even though she had matured and changed since they had first met, Kori was still very much ruled by her emotions, and Dick usually caught the brunt of them, good or bad.

"I apologise, but it seems like so long since I last saw you!"

Gathering his breath, Dick managed a smile. "I thought you guys were out of town?" he said, looking past Kori to see the Titans stood in his doorway. Vic shrugged, taking a swig from the beer that he had caught after Kori barrelled into Dick.

"Or maybe that's what Wally wanted you to think," he said, winking. Dick was surprised by how well Vic's holographic imager worked, effectively disguising his metallic components to the point where Dick had trouble recognising him until he spoke. Dick smiled.

"So you're Wally's 'mystery guests', huh?"

Garfield grinned nervously. "Yeah… uh… where's your bathroom? Vic wouldn't stop on the way over here," he said, shooting a glare in his hulking friends' direction. But Vic was already walking around the apartment, looking the place over. Dick's smile grew.

"It's just over there," he said, pointing him the right direction. He looked back to see Raven still stood in the doorway. "Raven," he said, nodding.

"Dick. It's good to see you."

"You too. Hey guys, you can help yourself to food or whatever, it's just in the-"

Vic ran by him and into the kitchen, closely followed by Garfield, who had just emerged from the bathroom. Dick looked over at Raven and Kori, and, after closing the door, motioned for them to sit down on the chair that Wally had placed seemingly randomly around the room. When he had mentioned it to Wally, he had merely winked at him and said,

"_You'll see."_

Dick pushed the memory aside, and looked at his two friends. He and Kori sat next to each other on the sofa, while Raven sat on a chair off to the side, so that Dick could see both of them. He tried not to look at Kori more than Raven out of politeness, but even after all this time he still couldn't stop himself.

"So, how have you been? What have you been up to?"

Raven was the one to answer. "The new students are a bit… troublesome. Especially the new Robin," she said, a hint of a smile on her lips.

Kori nodded an affirmative, smiling as she did so. "He has many stories to tell of you."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "He does, huh? I hope they're complimentary."

She nodded again. "Oh, very much complimentary. He sometimes has moments where it is as if you never left," she said, some sadness sinking into her eyes as she spoke. Dick took his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry I haven't been over recently, but I've been… busy."

Raven nodded. "We've heard. How are things in the Justice League?"

Kori's eyes lit up once again. "You must have many great stories of your adventures."

Dick paused, then shook his head. "I'm not a member anymore."

"You're _what?_"

Dick looked over to see Garfield looking at him with his eyes wide, potato chips exploding from his mouth as he spoke.

"You've left the Justice League? Aw, man, this was my one chance to get in and meet Wonder Woman!"

Vic rolled his eyes, and looked at Dick. "What happened, man?"

Dick shrugged and sighed. "It just… wasn't right for me."

Vic smirked. "You mean you couldn't handle it."

Dick narrowed his eyes. "No, I just couldn't be in four places at once. What if I was out with the League, and Blockbuster suddenly decided to go on a rampage through Bludhaven? Or what if I was working with you and the League called? I had priorities, and…" he trailed off, his eyes working their way over to Kori's. "…and I made a choice."

The sound of rapid muffled footsteps broke the conversation, and Wally burst through the door with a stack of CD's and yet more snacks.

"Music and food for all!" he yelled, his view blocked by the tower of food and plastic. As he dropped the goods on a nearby chair, he spotted the new guests, and his expression changed as rapidly as he could run, changing from first shock, to happiness, and then finally to angry disappointment. He crossed his arms.

"Ah, dammit - I wanted to be here when you arrived!" He said, sounding like spoilt child as he spoke. Gar went over to him and put his arm around him.

"Don't worry, dude; you didn't miss anything. Kori nearly squeezed the life outta Dick, me an' Vic ate almost all the food, the usual. What music you got?"

"Glad you asked," Wally said, grinning as he took the stack of CD's over to the stereo, Garfield in close pursuit.

Dick tried to ignore their snickering over what he presumed was the CD he had bought for the party, turning his attention to Vic. "Want a drink?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

After they both took a beer from the fridge, Dick leaned back on the kitchen table, and pointed at Vic's arm.

"You can turn that off, you know."

Vic blinked as if not sure what he was talking about, then nodded. "Oh, yeah! Right," he said, pushing a button hidden beneath his holographic 'skin' to reveal the true Victor Stone. Dick nodded in approval.

"So, how are _you_ finding being a teacher?"

Vic sighed as he sat tentatively in a chair. Dick resisted the wince threatening to play over his face as he heard the chair creaking in protest. "It's tough, man. These kids aren't like we were; they've been around. They don't think they need to push themselves 'cos they think they've seen it all."

Dick smiled. "Doesn't sound that different to me."

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden blast of impossibly loud music from the main living area, followed by an angered yell from Raven, and a laugh from Garfield and Wally. Dick could vaguely make out Raven saying something over the loud music, and the music suddenly stopped.

Vic smiled back, then became serious again. "It'd be easier with you there, man."

Dick nodded solemnly. "I know, but I have responsibilities here."

"It's not just that." He leaned towards Dick, and he tilted his head to better hear Vic's whispered words.

"She's not gonna wait around forever, y'know."

Dick frowned. "Wait for what?"

"Don't give me that. You _know _what I'm talking about. You've already hurt what you had going with Batgirl because of your whole 'lone wolf with responsibilities' thing."

Dick was about to object, when pieces of a jigsaw fitted into place in his head.

_Barbara... Barbara!_

There was a knock on the door.

"Oh no," Dick whispered. Vic looked at him, puzzled.

"What?"

"That's Barbara."

Vic smiled, and turned his attention back towards his beer, before seeing the horror in Dick's face. "You're not… serious, are you?"

"What do you think?"

Vic's eyes widened. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't know that Wally was inviting you! Blame him!"

The knocking at the door came again. Kori's voice came from the living area.

"Dick? Should I get that?"

Dick heard Wally's voice come next as he left the kitchen.

"Don't worry 'bout it Kori, I'll get it."

Just as Dick came into the room, Wally had opened the door and had widened his eyes in shock. He smiled weakly. "Hi, Barbara. Kara."

Dick put his hand over his eyes, rubbing them in hopes that he would be a few hours in the past when he opened them, and stop himself from making this stupid mistake.

No such luck. He opened his eyes to see Barbara and Kori staring at each other. Just staring. No movement, not so much as a sound. In fact, that pretty much described everyone in the room. Garfield had turned around from his fiddling with the stereo and was frozen in a hunched over position. Raven looked indifferently at the whole ordeal. Wally was completely still, which Dick took as a sign that this was very bad. He turned to look at Vic, who had his teeth clenched and his eyes widened in horrific anticipation of what was to come.

Dick took a deep breath, and stepped forward. It took him a moment to find his voice. He wasn't sure what to say, so he just settled for a formal introduction.

_No way and argument could grow out of that, right?_

"Babs, meet Kori. Kori, Babs."

More silence ensued. Kori was the first to move. She lifted up her hand in a handshake gesture. "It is… nice to meet you."

Barbara lifted her arm equally slowly. "Likewise." She turned to Dick and grabbed his arm. Dick didn't even think about what Kori would think of that. "Could I have a word with you?"

Garfield raised his eyebrows several times. "Oh ho ho!" he said, his trademark grin plastered on his face. Upon seeing the expression on Kori and Babs' face, he quickly wiped the smile away and turned back to his fiddling with the stereo. Kori looked over at Dick, and put her hand on his other arm as she spoke.

"I would also like to speak with you," she said, not once taking her eyes off of Barbara.

"It won't take long," Barbara said, a smile forcibly stretching her features. "Then you can have him all to yourself."

Kori was about to say something more, when Dick put his hand on hers. "It's okay, Kori. I'll be back in a second."

The hurt on Kori's face made him go silent with guilt. Barbara dragged him into the kitchen before he could do anything more, replacing his guilt with dread.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Who was that?"

Dick put his head in his hands as he sat down, resting his elbows on the table. "That was Starfire."

"The Teen Titan girl?"

"That's her."

"And what are you to her?"

"We're... just friends."

"And what exactly does 'just friends' entail?"

"Why do you care?"

She was silent for a moment, as if taken aback by the comment. She turned so her back was facing him. "Don't you know?" she whispered, almost making it sound like an accusation.

Dick slowly rubbed the back of his neck and groaned. "Babs, I… you never… I mean… _We _never…" He stopped trying to talk, the words getting caught in his chest well before they even reached his throat. He knew what to do in almost any battle or tactical situation, but when it came to women, Dick had no clue what he was doing.

_Where's that Bat training now, Bruce?_

In all honestly, Dick and Barbara hadn't talked for a long time, gradually becoming more and more distant as their respective work places pulled them away from each other. He had tried, initially, to keep in contact with her, but had simply thought that she didn't want to talk to him. That was, until Bruce had told him the real reason; she was filling in for Batman, keeping his presence constant in Gotham. Dick's relationship with her had become increasingly fraught, ever since that fateful day that he threw the Robin cape in Bruce's face. It had taken him a long time to let go of both Bruce's and Barbara's betrayal, and even then, the pair's relationship had been strained. When he had told her he was moving to Bludhaven, the most either of them could manage was a friend's embrace, Dick allowing himself the guilty pleasure of smelling her hair before he left her, a reminder of things as they were before Batgirl and Robin dominated their lives.

Of course, that wasn't so say that his relationship with Kori wasn't complicated as well, being quite the opposite, with him never being able to sort out his feelings for her properly. They even reached the tentative stage of being a couple until he left Bruce. When he had told her and the rest of the Titans that he was giving up his role as Robin, and that he was going away to train, Kori had been sad but had also been supportive of his choice, and was happy for him when he eventually returned as Nightwing. But since then, they hadn't picked up where they left off. Dick put it down to being too busy, but he knew deep down it was more than that. Vic was right when he said that she wouldn't wait for him forever, but it was something that Dick had never felt ready to confront; it would require making a choice that would seriously impact is life, and he was self admittedly very bad at this kind of thing. And more important than anything, he desperately didn't want to hurt either Kori or Barbara, though by waiting, he realised he most likely had hurt both of them by waiting until now to do anything. That is, if he _was _going to do anything now.

_Of all the places to do this…_

He took a deep breath. "Babs… we were never going to end up…"

"What?" she said, taking Dick aback with how hurt she seemed. Dick took another deep breath, and spoke very slowly and gently.

"We've ...been growing further and further apart ever since I moved to Bludhaven, and-"

"And who's fault if that, Dick? _You _were the one who said that you couldn't stay in _his _city anymore."

"I know that. But this was coming ever since I came back. You had to have seen it, though I don't blame you if you didn't. I have to admit, _I _didn't see it until Alfred said something."

The silence that resulted from Dick's statement would have killed any ordinary man. As it was, Nightwing and Batgirl settled for staring at different parts of the room.

"Are you serious about her?" she asked, pushing the ever present choice into Dick's face. He took a deep breath, carefully deliberating what he could say, if there was any way of saying it without it sounding like he was making a commitment one way of the other, but realised that he had been running from this choice for too long, and it was time to finally stop running. If there was anything he had learned from his brief stint with the Justice League, that was it.

"Yes. I am."

She sighed. "Then there's nothing I can do, is there?" she said, a weak smile on her face. Dick stood slowly, pushing back his chair. He walked around so he was facing her, then wrapped his arms around Barbara, and felt her arms doing the same, gripping his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Barbara."

She pulled away, wiping a stray tear from her face as she smiled. "Hey, I knew this was going to come eventually. If not with her, then with someone else, or me with someone else…" she sighed. "I guess I was just… trying to avoid it. You know what I mean?"

Dick smiled. "More than you know."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later, the only members of the party left were the five Titans and Wally. Barbara and Kara had left shortly after her talk with Dick in the kitchen, and Dick had understood, promising to keep in touch with her and the others. The party was winding down as they sat on the floor in an improvised semi circle.

"Dude, you throw one hell of a party, you know?" Garfield said, more than slightly tipsy, "It's a shame that Supergirl had to leave though, you know? I think there was something there, you know?"

Vic chuckled and Dick just smiled. This was one of the few times he had seen his changeling friend under the influence of alcohol, and it was a sight to behold. Wally, meanwhile, was finding the whole display hilarious. Vic patted his old friend on the shoulder.

"Think you've had enough, BB?"

Garfield shook his head profusely, then shrugged. "Nah, he's okay…" he mumbled, before falling backwards unconscious. Wally laughed even more, if that was possible. He always laughed more when he was drunk. Raven rolled her eyes, trying to hide the smile that was obvious to her friends. Vic shook his head, and looked at the watch in his arm.

"Woo… guess we better be going, guys. It's getting' late and I don't trust Robin alone in the tower for too long." He looked up at Dick. "Guess you never thought you'd hear that, huh?"

"Hope he's not _too_ much trouble."

Vic smirked and shook his head. "Nah… y'know, he reminds me more of Garfield than of you."

Raven shuddered. "Now _there's _a horrible thought."

Vic picked up his green friend and slung him over his shoulder. He activated his holoprojector, once more becoming the ordinary Joe known as Victor Stone. He opened the door and turned to Wally. "Hey, Wally. You wanna come with us and show these kids how it's done tomorrow?"

Wally smiled. "Nothing would make me happier right now. But then again, I am pretty drunk, so we'll see in the morning."

Raven stood looked over at where Dick was sat with Kori wrapped around his arm. "It was good to see you." She walked towards the open doorway and stopped. She turned around. "Oh, and… good choice." She smiled slightly, and Dick smiled back. Vic looked at the two of them, completely clueless, and turned to look at Wally, who wasn't really paying attention.

"Are we gonna go or what?" Wally asked impatiently.

"Uh… yeah… Kori, ready to go?"

Kori looked from Vic to Dick, and back again. "Well, I…"

"Actually," Dick cut in, "I think Kori can stay here for a few days. I think she needs a vacation."

Dick was expecting Vic to smirk, but in its place was a happy smile. "Yeah, I get you. Took you long enough. Good party, man. Next time we'll have to do something at the Tower, okay?"

Dick nodded, and got up to see them off. "Yeah. It was good to see you guys again."

He and Vic pushed their fists together in the way they had done since the earliest days of the Teen Titans.

"Don't be a stranger, y'hear? Keep those priorities of yours straight."

Dick looked back at Kori, who was resting her head on his chin. "Count on it."

Dick turned to Wally. "Wally... thanks."

"What're you thanking me for?"

"For... everything. You know?"

Wally grinned and put his hand on Dick's shoulder. "Nope. But I'll take your word for it."

Dick smiled took a step back. "You guys take care of yourself."

They all said their assorted goodbyes before walking down the corridor, Vic yelling at Wally to slow down the whole time. Dick closed the door and turned to look at Kori, who had gone to sit on the sofa. She looked troubled.

"Something wrong?" Dick asked, sitting down next to her and taking her hands in his.

"Perhaps it will be best if I go with the others. You will want to patrol the city, won't you?"

Dick smiled. He looked into Kori's eyes, and thought about everything that lay before him, and all the things that had happened to bring him to this point, his mind lingering on what Kori had said to him about good things coming from the bad. From Bruce and Barbara's deception, he learned independence. From his forcing himself to leave the League, he learned that he needed to re-evaluate how he ran his life. And from Barbara and Kori's forced meeting, he had learned that he couldn't run from the problems in his life. He only wished it hadn't taken him so long to realise it. He also wished that Wally had been sober enough to understand why he was thanking him. Through helping him, Dick saw the value, once again, of facing up to hard choices. And as he spoke, he knew he would be forever grateful to Wally for helping him to make that choice.

"It's not high on my list of priorities right now," he said, leaning in to embrace Kori, who, at that moment, was his highest priority.

Fin.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In case you didn't know:

Kori/Koriand'r - Starfire

Vic/Victor Stone - Cyborg

Gar/Garfield Logan - Beast Boy

(A/N: Yeah, that's the end. For those who think this story as a whole was a bit short, all I'm going to say is that this was all I had planned from the beginning, and anything else I added would have just been stretching the story (and the characters) further than it (and they) needed to go. Short and Sweet.

Thanks to:

The World's Finest - for info on heroes and villains of the JLU

The Watchtower - for the same info

Titans Tower - for info on the Teen Titans comic book world

DC and Warner Brothers - for giving me such a cool universe full of such great characters to write about

You, The Esteemed Reader - for reading and (here's the important part) reviewing. Your feedback and suggestions were very helpful and helped me to make a better story. Remember to review this chapter as well.

Also, I've gone back and edited the old chapters, so if you've been following this update by update it might be worth your while to read the whole thing again. (For example, I've removed Barry Allen references since he doesn't exist in the DCAU at all, and I'm really trying hard to make this thing fit in. So just think that Wally used to read _Flash _comic books or something.)

Adios, amigos.)


End file.
